


A Scandal in Wonderland

by Miss_Wallace



Category: Alice in Wonderland (1951), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Related Fandoms, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Alice in Wonderland, Gen, Sherlock Makes Deductions, Wonderland
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 13:23:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1430074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Wallace/pseuds/Miss_Wallace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a parallel universe, Alice comes to Wonderland every day to drink tea and have fun with the people she has befriended. However, one day, Alice is nowhere to be found and the whole world in upside town, tormented by her sudden absence. The Mad Hatter pays Sherlock a little visit and offer him and John the opportunity to solve the strangest case they've ever been offered...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The detective and the visitor

The sun was rising above London when the doorbell rang at Baker Street. John was still in bed and the piercing sound woke him up suddenly. John, gasping for air, shook his head. He heard the doorbell again and realized that he was no longer dreaming.

He had a strange dream in which he was running after twins wearing red trousers and funny hats, in a forest, surrounded by gigantic mushrooms, blue and red, green and yellow. He felt as if he were stuck into a huge kaleidoscope, with all the colours and the flashing lights of the sun coming through the leaves. Completely lost, John thought the place was completely nonsense even if he admired the beauty of it. He walked through the Mushroom Forest until he found himself at a crossroads: there were warning signs leading to strange locations such as “This way” or “Up” and “Down”. Then, as you always do in a dream, he took a path and was suddenly surrounded by soldiers. Oh, not the soldiers he used to mix with during the war, but card soldiers. Like real living playing cards. With proper heads, proper arms, spears. He was attacked, the cards were trying to chop off his head and he could only hear a loud voice screaming: “Off with his head!” That was the point where he woke up.

John only had time to put on his dressing gown. Sherlock already made the early visitor sit on the clients’ chair. He was a short man, wearing green trousers and an orange jacket – Sherlock thought he had a terrible taste in clothes. On the top of his big round head, he was wearing a hat. Not the modern kind of hat: it was a top hat, the same green as the trousers. Likes to wear strange clothes – awful colour taste – Not living in London – Countryside probably.¬ 10/6. Did not bother to take off the price of the hat, but why ? Ten shillings and six pence. Not the actual way of counting. Sherlock watched thoughtfully the mad man in the hat. Curiouser and curiouser. Sherlock saw the blue bowtie. Bowties are awful, even worse than ties. Definitely not a man from the city. Never used to dress up before, hence wearing the best things he must have in his wardrobe. Only things that he has in his wardrobe actually.

\- So, you live in the countryside, considering that you have no clue about how to dress properly in London. Lot of green, mostly not to get dirty when you take your long walks – must I say when you wander for hours – in the woods. You got little spores on the edge of your hat. You must like picking mushrooms during you little strolls outside.

\- I don’t understand a single word of yours, the strange man in the hat explained.

\- Why are you here? I’m not consulting to help people find out which mushroom they should eat and which one would get them poisoned.

\- I don’t have this problem. I drink tea.

\- Boring… Every person in this country drinks tea. Not relevant to the case.

\- Let me explain. I drank tea yesterday and she did not come.

\- Who?

\- Who what?

\- Who did not come to drink tea with you?

\- Oh, yes, I love tea!

Sherlock glanced at John, rolling his eyes as a sign of extreme boredom. He was about to open the door and tell the visitor to get out of the flat when John asked: “You drink tea every day and somebody did not come? Who is this person? And who are you, sir?” The man gave a sidelong look to John and answered, lowering his voice: “I’m the Hatter, the Mad Hatter as they call me there. And Alice missed tea today”.


	2. The silly story of the Mad Hatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the Mad Hatter exposes to Sherlock and John the curious case he has brought to them. Little Alice didn't come for tea, Wonderland is panicking... Maybe the Hatter has a slight idea of what happened.

\- I already had ten cups of tea when it struck me: our usual guest was not here. My friend, the Hare –

\- I b- I beg your pardon? John asked while frowning above his notebook.

\- My friend, the March Hare.

Sherlock made a swift sign to John, to make him stop interrupting the visitor in his depiction of the case. John was surprised Sherlock was admitting such an incredible case could be real. He frowned and sat in his chair, clearly pouting.

\- So, the March Hare told me that he was surprised Alice was not there for her unbirthday party. We always celebrate it, every day actually. Except on birthday. Of course we celebrate birthdays, it would be nonsense not to do so. Anyway, our friend Alice missed the tea party. Can you imagine? She always comes and sees us, every afternoon since that day she fell in the rabbit hole. The White Rabbit is terribly worried: he thinks she’s just late, but what lateness! He cannot sleep anymore, the poor thing.

\- Where does this Rabbit lives? Can we see him? Sherlock asked without even looking at the Hatter.

\- He lives with us, in Wonderland. He does not come every day for tea, we mostly see him from time to time running around the countryside, always late – this guy seriously has a problem, you know…

The Hatter made a brief sign to mimic the supposed craziness of the White Rabbit. Then he continued, very enthusiastic.

\- It’s the Queen, sir. Always was and always will be her.

\- The Queen of England? Sherlock asked, immediately thinking about ten different manners to get to the Queen if that was necessary. Mycroft would help. Of course, he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to have tea and probably cake.

\- No, you crazy person! The Queen of Hearts. Our Queen. In Wonderland. She basically wants to “Off with your head” everybody in the country. She has those strange looking guards. So thin! I bet they never eat, she must keep every ounce of food for herself. She’s so big! She could eat my poor friend the Dormouse and probably all my hats if she could. Oh I won’t let her eat my hats. So she eats and she eats and Alice disappeared. Do you think the Queen ate the poor silly but lovely Alice, Mister Sherlock?

\- Erm… It’s Holmes.

\- No it’s Alice! I’m sure of that.

\- I meant me. I’m Mister Holmes.

\- Yes, I know who you are. It seems you’re not so sure yourself.

\- Anyway… Sherlock sighed. You think the Queen ate your friend.

\- Yes.

\- No.

\- I’m sorry? I surely know what I think. You’re not in my head, Mister Holmes!

\- I said: no, she did not eat Alice. We have to go to this country of yours, Wonderland.

John jumped from his armchair. “We?” he quaked. “I’m not going anywhere! This is the story of a mad man in a hat! It is absolute nonsense, Sherlock, have you lost your mind? A White Rabbit who is late? I know you liked the Bluebell case but this, Sherlock, this is not our responsibility. You have so many cases to solve and you choose rubbish. I won’t go on a silly adventure to find out that it’s just a bunch of drugged people whom you will, after a while, hire for personal use in your homeless network. I will not be part of this gibberish”. Sherlock came closer to John, deeply gazed into his eyes and simply stated “Yes, you will. Take your coat, we’re going to Wonderland!”


	3. A path to Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock and John - well, more Sherlock than John actually - decide to follow the Mad Hatter into Wonderland to help him solve the case of the disparition of Alice. Tis not an easy travel to get there...

Everybody in Baker Street was looking at the strange group walking out of the flat. The Mad hatter was nearly jumping his way down the street. He was leading their fellowship to Regent’s Park. John frowned but did not say a word. Why Regent’s Park? They were supposed to go to Wonderland! Anyway, John had no idea how to get there. Could that include the use of magic? No, magic was impossible in their world. On the other hand, he was following a Mad Hatter through London. Anything could happen and it could be dangerous.

The Mad Hatter stopped in front of a bush, near a great oak.

\- What now? Sherlock asked. How do we get to Wonderland?

John sighed. At last! Sherlock had not lost his mind. John was staring at the Mad Hatter, waiting for some reaction or logical explanation for all his rubbish mysteries. Instead of talking, the hatter jumped through the bush and disappeared behind the tree. Sherlock looked at John and followed the Hatter: “Come along, John!” Then he disappeared too. John rolled his eyes. He went through the bush and found himself in front of a big hole carved into the oak, big enough to let a grown man pass through. The Hatter and Sherlock could not have vanished. John remembered one of Sherlock’s favourite phrase: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”. He jumped in the hole. Then his fall began.

Down in the tree, John thought his fall was too long to be true. “I must have fallen right through the centre of the earth”. He saw a light, not a light deep in the hole but the curious light of a lamp, hanging to nothing. Then a bookshelf, a rocking chair, another lamp, curtains without a window and a window without a wall. Everything was floating in the air while John was inexorably falling down. Thinking about the strange events that were going on since the morning, John hit the floor.

\- I thought I had lost my blogger!

\- Come on, Mr Watson, my friends are waiting for you.

John glanced around him. Sherlock and the Hatter were standing near a door. John opened his eyes wide: the door was as high as his ankle. “Oh, I’m not going through that, Sherlock. This has to stop right here, right now!” John shouted in front of his friend, with furious eyes. He was too busy lecturing Sherlock to notice the hatter who had taken out of his vest three little bottles of a pink liquor: he was already drinking. He shrank once, twice, three times and was finally just as tall to go through the door. John stopped yelling when he saw the Hatter disappear on the other side of the room.

\- Sherl-Sherlock? Have you seen what I just saw?

\- Fascinating! You think this pinky thing can…

\- …make us shrink too? I hope so! Otherwise we’re trapped down the hole of this oak into this very room with no way out.

Sherlock gave John a bottle and they both started to drink. John was not so happy about being smaller than he already was but he drank the whole bottle anyway. They quickly began to shrink and the hole where they came from was getting bigger and scarier. Once, twice, three times. John looked at Sherlock: he was still smaller than him but at least they were able to pass the door. The cracks in the wood made John feel strange, as if the door was staring at them and smiling. However he started to be more and more confident: he was given the proof than all of this was neither a dream nor a fantastic magic trick.

When they came out, Sherlock and John had to stop to concentrate on the scenery in front of them. It was a forest, not only made of trees but a forest of gigantic mushrooms and smiling flowers. As they walked, following the Mad Hatter who seemed to be humming a tune, they discovered a whole new world which they did not know a couple of hours ago. Sherlock was turning his head to the left and to the right, as enthralled as a child. He noticed a loaf of bread flying between the trees and a strange pair of glasses with eyes and a pointy nose. Nothing human was to be seen in the surrounding area. “Don’t lose yourself in the forest, stay on the path!” the Mad Hatter warned them. John was struck by a thought: the Hatter was not humming. The flowers were! He listened carefully to understand the lyrics but the Hatter rushed and they began to walk faster not to lose him. John only had the time to see a group of flowers apparently led by a rose, as if they were a new form of choir. They went to the edge of the forest, where a fast silhouette came to them. “You’re late, Hatter. You’re late with your visitors and now I’m late too. The Queen is going to be furious, I have to go go go see her! I’m late! No time to say hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!” Then he hurried up and run to what seemed to be his house.

\- Who…? John inquired about.

\- Mr Holmes, Mr Watson, you’ve just met the White Rabbit!


	4. Hatter, Hare and tea.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where John and Sherlock are invited for tea and make a new curious encounter.

Sherlock glanced at John, who was as surprised as him about this turn of events. John shrugged his shoulders and they started to walk again, following the Mad Hatter deep into the forest, until they reached his house. In the garden, a beautiful table was ready for tea. Strangely shaped teacups and teapots were scattered all over the silky tablecloth.

\- John…  
\- Yes, Sherlock?  
\- Can you hear that?  
\- Yes. It’s like a tiny…

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence. A snoring sound echoed, apparently coming from a huge purple teapot. The detective and his blogger looked at each other in complete awe. What living creature could possibly fit into a teapot and why would it even sleep in there in the first place? 

\- Hatter… What lays in there? Sherlock asked, pointing the teapot.  
\- My little friend.  
\- And your friend is?  
\- Well… -  
\- It’s not a friend, it’s a silly little dormouse who likes to sleep in the teapot, but please do not wake him up!!

A brown hare with a red suit and orange bowtie had interrupted the Hatter. He was rushing towards the table, grabbing a cup and pouring way too much tea in it. Some tea got spilt over the tablecloth but it didn’t seem to bother any of them. Sherlock tensed up. Mrs Hudson would be alarmed by the way these curious people were treating tea time. It wasn’t even tea time already. What a shame! They were looking at this long-eared hare when he caught them staring.

\- What now? Haven’t you ever seen a March Hare?  
\- A… a March… Nevermind.

John was starting to think that he must’ve been drugged, another thing that Sherlock liked to experience on him in his spare time. Every time they didn’t have a case, he would come home with some eyeballs, brain tissues, weird smelling things, making experiments that made Mrs Hudson scream of horror and disgust when she found them. Sometimes he just enjoys watching John after putting some drugs into his coffee. Sherlock needed these experiments, as he said, to understand the way human brain could react to certain substances. John was half sure he was hallucinating, when the teapot opened up and a tiny dormouse yawned while walking out of it. It scratched its head and stared at John, smiling dreamingly: “It’s time for a nap!” Then it crawled back into the teapot and the March Hare put the lid onto it.  
They were starting to seat at the table when they heard a loud scream and the sound of someone running towards them. The White Rabbit was back, nearly losing his glasses in his rush.

\- It’s the Queen! I knew it, the Queen is up to something! I have… I have managed to escape quickly. You don’t have time to drink your tea, you’re late! Even later than I have ever been before! You have to come, you have to come! Oh please help me, help her, help us!


End file.
